Railway truck and axle drive



March 17, 1942.

0. K. KJOLSFTH RAILWAY TRUCK AND AXLE DRIVE Y Filed March 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Irwvefitor Ole K. KJolseth,

Attgrfiey.

March '17, 1942. o, K. K OLSE H 2,276,848

RAiLWAY TRUCK AND AXLE DRIVE Filed March 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 11mm" w mun I Inventor: Q Ole K. Kjolseth,

- wa /Um His Attorney.

Patented Mar. 17, 1942 RAILWAY TRUCK AND AXLE DRIVE Ole K. Kjolseth, Erie, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application March 25, 1941, Serial No. 385,046

Claims.

My invention relates to railway trucks and axle drives and particularly to an improved construction for providing an eflicient geared drive and lubricating arrangement for a railway axle which facilitates the assembly and disassembly of gears and their shafts in a gear casing.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved railway axle driving construction which facilitates assembling and disassembling the driving gears in a gear casing.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved railway axle driving gear lubricating system.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent and my invention will be better understood from the following description referring to the accompanying drawings, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a railway truck partly broken away and illustrating my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the truck shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the gear casing shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of a gear casing shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a railway truck having a substantially rectangular frame including side frames ID connected together at their ends by transversely extending tie bars H and connected together at their central portion by a transversely extending bolster l3 arranged to support a railway vehicle frame. The truck frame is resiliently supported by a plurality of coil springs l4 which engage spring seats on the side frames 10 and spring seats'lfi on longitudinally extending equalizers H. The ends of the equalizers I! are supported on the upper surfaces of journal boxes I8 arranged about the ends of driving axles l9. These axles l9 are supported by wheels and are adapted to be driven by electric motors 2| arranged one on each side of the bolster I 2. One end of each motor 2! is supported on a bracket 22 and the opposite end thereof is mounted on a supporting bracket 23 secured to the bolster l2. Each motor 2| is arranged to drive an axle l9 through a series of gears with which the motor shaft is coupled by a universal connection 24.

In order to provide an axle driving construction which will facilitate inspection and repairs, the gearing is arranged as a substantially selfcontained unit which can be readily detached and removed from th remaining portion of the railway truck and drive. This improved drive is more clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5,and includes a driving shaft 25 which is adapted to be coupled to the universal joint 24 by a coupling element 26 secured to one end of the shaft 25 by a key 21. A driving pinion gear 28 is formed integral with the driving shaft 25 and is arranged in engagement with a reduction gear 29 mounted on a countershaft 30 on which a second reduction gear. 3| is mounted and arranged in engagement with an axle gear 32 mounted on the driving'axle IS. A gear casing is arranged about this gearing and is formed as two substantially separate chambers with one of the chambers extending about'the driving gear 28 and its associated reduction gear 29 and the other chamber extending about the reduction gear 3| and the axle gear 32. This gear casing rotatably supports an end of the driving shaft25' by roller bearings 33 and an end of the countershaft 30 by roller bearings 34 mounted in a removable cap 35 which is bolted to the gear casing. The other ends of the drive shaft25 and the countershaft 30 are rotatably supported by roller bearings 36 and 31 which are mounted in removable bearing-housing caps 38 and 39 secured by bolts 40 and 4|, respectively, to the outer side of the gear casing. The outer side of the gear casing which supports the roller bearings 36 and 31 is formed as a removable cover plate 42 which extends over an opening in the end of the gear casing chamber 43 arranged about the driving gear 28' and reduction gear 29. This opening in the end of the gear casing chamber '43 is substantially as large as the entire outer side of the gear casing and is of such size that the reduction gear 29 may readily be passed therethrough. The cover 42 is secured in position on the gear easing by a plurality of bolts 44 which may be readily removed when the gear casing is removed as a unit from the truck. In order to provide a rigid unitary gear casing, the chamber 43 is provided with an inner wall 45 which is secured to an inner wall 46 of the other gear casing chamber 41. This rigid connection is provided by a plurality of gusset plates 48, a bracket 49, a supporting bearing member 50, and a sleeve 5! extending transversely between the walls 45 and 46 and being welded thereto. The sleeve 5| forms an enclosure about coaxial openings 52 and 53 formed in the adjacent inner walls of the gear casing so as to prevent the entrance of foreign substances into the gear casing through these openings. These openings are formed of a size larger than the reduction gear 3|, so that it may readily pass therethrough when assembled on the countershaft 30.

In order to support the gear casing on the truck frame, a suspension link 54 is provided to support the inner end of the gear casing and is pivotally connected to the truck frame by a pivot pin 55 on a bracket 56 formed on the bolster l2 and is connected by a pivot pin 51 extending through an opening 58 in an arm 59 formed on the inner wall 46 of the casing. The arm 59 extends towards the bolster l2 of the truck and is formed as a safety nose which extends through a bracket 60 mounted on the bolster I2 to provide a stop in case of failure of the link suspension. The other end of the gear casing is rotatably supported on the axle 19 by the bearing member 50 which rotatably engages a sleeve bearing SI and a bearing member 62 which rotatably engages a sleeve bearing 63. In order to facilitate removal of the gear casing from the axle IS, the chamber 41 is split along a diameter of the axle l9 and is secured together by a plurality of bolts 64 which extends through flanges 65 and 66 formed on the two halves of the split chamber 41.

Lubrication is provided to the gears and bearings by lubricating oil supplied to the chambers 43 and 41 through lubricant supply openings 61 or 68 which are closed by plugs 69 and HI, respectively. Lubrication of the gears and bearings is obtained by the conventional splash system, and thelower portions of the chambers 43 and 47 provide lubricant reservoirs for this lubricating oil. In order to insure an adequate supply of lubricant to all of the gears and bearings and to maintain a substantially constant level of lubricant in the two chambers of the gear casing, a connecting passageway is provided between the lower portions of these chambers by a pipe H which communicates with openings formed in the sides of these chambers. Lubrication of the sleeve bearings GI and 63 is insured by providing lubricant fittings 12 and 13 mounted on the bearing members 50 and 62, through which additional lubricant can be supplied to these bearings.

With this construction, repair of the gears is facilitated by assembling and disassembling the gears and their shafts in assembled relationship. This may be done by disconnecting the lubricant connection pipe H from the lower portion of the gear casing chamber 41, unbolting the bolts 64, and removing the lower portion of the split gear casing chamber 41, uncoupling the motor shaft from the drive shaft 25 by disconnecting the coupling 26, removing the pin 51 from the suspension link 54, removing the safety nose bracket 60', and then removing the entire gear casing with its gears and shafts from the truck. The driving gear 28 and the drive shaft 25 then may be removed in assembled relationship from the gear casing by removing the. coupling member 28 from the drive shaft 25, unbolting the cap 38, and withdrawing the shaft 25 from the gear casing. The cover plate 42 then is unbolted and removed, after which the reduction gears 29 and 3! may be removed from the gear casing in assembled relationship on the countershaft 30 byv turning the countershaft slightly at an angle with respect to its operating position, such that the teeth of the gear 29 will clear the inwardly extending edges of the gear casing chamber 43. This construction obviates the necessity of pressing the intermediate gear or pinion on or on the countershaft 30' while in the casing, and thereby simplifies the operation of assembling and disassembling this gear drive.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that my invention is not to be limited to the particular arrangement disclosed, and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An axle driving construction including an axle, a gear mounted on said axle, a drive shaft with a driving gear, a countershaft, a reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said driving gear, a second reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said axle gear, a gear casing arranged about said gears and formed of two chambers, one of said chambers being arranged to extend about said driving gear and said first-mentioned reduction gear, the other of said chambers being arranged to extend about said axle gear and said second reduction gear, means including openings in said chambers for providing for the removal of said countershaft and said reduction gears in assembled relationship from said gear casing, means for rotatably supporting said drive shaft on said gear casing, and means including a removable cover over one of said openings for rotatably supporting the other end of said drive shaft.

2. An axle driving construction including an axle, a gear mounted on said axle, a drive shaft with a driving gear, a countershaft, a reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said driving gear, a second reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said axle gear, a gear casing arranged about said gear and formed of two chambers having rigidly connected adjacent inner walls, one of said chambers being arranged to extend about said driving gear and said first-mentioned reduction gear, the other of said chambers being arranged to extend about said axle gear and said second reduction gear, means for rotatably supporting an end of said drive shaft on said gear casing, a removable cover secured to said driving gear chamber and forming the outer side thereof, means for rotatably supporting the other end of said drive shaft on said cover, and means including said cover and coaxial openings in said adjacent inner walls of said two chambers for 1 providing for the removal of said countershaft and said reduction gears in assembled relationship from said gear casing, said countershaft being adapted to extend through said coaxial openings and said openings being of a size larger than said second reduction gear.

3. An axle driving construction including an axle, a gear mounted on said axle, a drive shaft with a driving gear, a countershaft, a reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said driving gear, a second reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said axle gear, a gear casing arranged about said gear and formed of two chambers having rigidly connected adjacent inner Walls, one of said chambers being arranged to extend about said driving gear and said first-mentioned reduction gear, the other of said chambers being arranged to extend about said axle gear and said second reduction gear, an opening in the outer side of said driving gear chamber larger than said firstmentioned reduction gear, means for rotatably supporting an end of said drive shaft on said gear casing, a removable cover over said opening secured to said driving gear chamber, means for rotatably supporting the other end of said drive shaft on said cover, and means including said cover and coaxial openings in said adjacent inner walls of said two chambers for providing for the removal of said countershaft and said reduction gears in assembled relationship from said gear casing, said countershaft being adapted to extend through said coaxial openings and said openings being of a size larger than said second reduction gear,

4. An axle driving construction including an axle, a gear operatively connected to said axle, a drive shaft with a driving gear, a countershaft, a reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said driving gear, a sec ond reduction gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage said axle gear, a gear casing arranged about said gears and formed of two chambers providing two lubricant reservoirs, one of said chambers being arranged to extend about said driving gear and said first-mentioned reduction gear, the other of said chambers being arranged to extend about said axle gear and said second reduction gear, means including a passageway for interconnecting said lubricant reservoir chambers substantially to equalize the lubricant level therein, means for rotatably supporting an end of said drive shaft on said gear casing, a removable cover secured to said driving gear lubricant reservoir chamber and forming the outer side thereof, means for rotatably supporting the other end of said drive shaft on said cover, and means including said cover and openings in the adjacent inner walls of said two chambers for providing for the removal of said countershaft and said reduction gears in assembled relationship from said gear casing, said countershaft being adapted to extend through said openings and said openings being of a size larger than said second reduction gear.

5. An axle driving construction including an axle, a gear mounted on said axle, a drive shaft with a driving gear mounted thereon, a reduction gearing including a countershaft with a gear mounted thereon adapted to engage said driving gear and a second gear mounted thereon adapted to engage said axle gear, a gear casing arranged about said gears and formed of two chambers, one of said chambers being arranged to extend about said driving gear and said firstmentioned reduction gear, the other of said chambers being arranged to extend about said axle gear and said second reduction gear, means for supporting an end of said gear casing on said axle in relatively rotatable relationship thereto, means for rotatably supporting an end of said drive shaft on said gear casing, means for rotatably supporting an end of said countershaft on said gear casing, an opening in the outer side of said driving gear chamber larger than said firstmentioned reduction gear, a removable cover secured over said opening, means for rotatably supporting the other end of said drive shaft and the other end of said countershaft on said cover, and coaxial openings in the adjacent inner walls of said two chambers, said countershaft being adapted to extend through said openings and said openings being of a size larger than said sec ond reduction gear.

OLE K. KJOLSETH. 

